Chapter 2: Building On a Lean-Agile Foundation

The IT industry undergoes constant evolution to deliver customer-centric value more quickly and efficiently and with higher quality. Some improvement concepts, such as Agile and DevOps, came directly from the software industry. However, Lean, Systems Thinking, and Value Stream Management all have their origins outside the software industry. Still, all these practices are now mainstream in the software and digital products and services delivery industries.

Though this book is about applying VSM and DevOps practices to accelerate digital value delivery, it's essential that each organization establishes a base of foundational practices. Specifically, IT organizations need to build their VSM and DevOps capabilities upon a solid value-centric foundation of Agile, Lean, and Systems Thinking practices.

This chapter will help Lean-Agile practitioners understand how to build this integrated foundation. We'll explore Systems Thinking...